Meets The Eye
by xqueerHQ
Summary: No one ever thinks a one night stand is usually more than exactly what it sounds like. But in a small town, there is always more than meets the eye. So what happens when an off-chance encounter leads to a one night stand between two people who are intertwined in a web of connections neither of them know about? Will they overcome their differences or will things turn sour? (SQ/G!P)
1. Chapter I

p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"span style="font-weight: bold;"Author's Note:/span aye, so I'm new to all of this and I'm not sure if this idea will actually continue growing, but I figured I'd give it a shot. Let me know what y'all think and we'll see!/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"span style="font-weight: bold;"Title: /spanMeets The Eyebr /span style="font-weight: bold;"Rating: /spanMbr /span style="font-weight: bold;"Summary: /spanNo one ever thinks a one night stand is usually more than exactly what it sounds like: a one night stand. But in a small town, there is always more than meets the eye. So what happens when an off-chance encounter leads to a one night stand between two people who are intertwined in a web of connections that neither of them know about? Will they overcome their differences or will things turn sour? SwanQueen (G!P)/p  
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p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"span style="font-weight: bold;"Meets The Eye: Chapter I/span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"span style="font-weight: bold;"Interior: The Rabbit Hole Bar/Tavern./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"Regina glances around the kind of stingy bar as she sits on a barstool, her right hand placed securely on her drink while her left thumb played with the band around her ring finger. She watches all of the patrons drinking and laughing, and she sighs. It wasn't often that Regina came to dark, out of place bars, but after her husband had cancelled their date night due to em'an issue he absolutely had to take care of at work'/em, an excuse she's all too used to hearing, she decided to not let the dress go to waste./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"The bar is loud, yet Regina is lost in her thoughts. She looks down at her drink, lifting it to her lips and talking a huge gulp. The alcohol stings her throat on its way down and Regina cringes slightly as she continues watching the people playing billiards./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"She pushes the now empty glass across the counter for the bartender to pick up before she goes back to playing with her wedding ring. She looks at it and feels her heart tug. When she got married to Daniel three years ago, she had this big happy life pictured in her mind. By this point, they should have kids, they should be happy, but Regina knew they weren't. Daniel was 'far too busy' for that, and Regina had to let go of that sinking feeling that something else was happening that caused this strain on their relationship./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"The bartender hands her another drink, and she gives him a questioning look. She didn't order another beverage, but the bartender just nods knowingly and she thanks him./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""Well, hey there pretty lady." A gruff voice says from beside her. She grabs a hold of her drink and keeps her eyes on it as she flicks them quickly over to a man standing next to her./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""I'm not interested." Regina says sternly, trying her best to not make eye contact with the man. She watches intently on her drink, making sure no funny business happens when the man speaks again./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""Now, come on. Is that any way to treat a gentleman?" The guy asks as he scoots closer to her, the smell of alcohol on his breath. She cringes at it. "What's a pretty young thing like you doing in a place like this?"/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""I'm sorry, I wasn't very clear before..." Regina says as she downs her drink and turns to face a very buff looking man. "I'm not interested."/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"The man grabs her arm as she goes to turn away again. "You didn't answer my question." He says as he roughly yanks on her, causing Regina to let out a small yelp./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"She closes her eyes, wishing for it to be over, but the guy forces her to turn around, a smirk on his face./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""Be a good girl, won't you?" He wink as Regina desperately tries to yank her arm away from him./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""I'm pretty sure she said she wasn't interested." Another voice, a female voice, says from behind the man./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"The man cackles as he looks at the other woman, a blonde with glasses. She stood about 5'5" and in comparison to him, she was tiny./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""Nobody asked for your opinion, bitch." He growls, letting go of Regina, standing tall and proud above the woman, puffing out his chest to intimidate her./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"She turns to the bartender. "August, you'll need to call the police. And maybe an ambulance."/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""The ambulance will be needed when I'm done with y-" the man grunts as the woman decks him in the face. He falls to the ground, groaning loudly. "You fucking bitch."/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"He gets back up and shoves the smaller woman. She just smiles widely before punching him in the gut. The man huddles over, grabbing onto his stomach as he whimpers./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""You were saying?" The blonde says, keeping her fists raised./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""I'll fucking kill you!" The man roars as he lunged at the girl who swiftly dodges him, her leg tripping him. Once he's on the ground, she jumps on top of him and delivers a few blows to his face before he's knocked unconscious. She smiles proudly and stands up, brushing her hands together./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""I hope he won't be anymore trouble to you, ma'am." The blonde says to Regina before going to turn around and leave./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""Wait!" Regina calls out as she hops off of the barstool. The blonde does a complete 180 and looks at the brunette with a questioning look. "Thank you."/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""It's no big deal." She shrugs as she shoves her hands in her pocket./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""It is, though. No one's ever stuck up for me like that." Regina smiles as she extends her right hand, keeping her left hand in her coat pocket. "I'm Regina Mills."/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""Emma Swan." The blonde says, shaking Regina's hand firmly. Regina's eyes slightly widen when she feels a spark surge through her arm and her body when Emma's skin touches her, and she almost instantly feels guilty that she gave Emma her maiden name./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""I- can I buy you a drink?"/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"Emma smiles, shrugging her shoulders. "Sure, why not?"/p  
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p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"They ended up at Emma's apartment, and Regina has no idea what the fuck she was doing. After a few drinks, she had literally asked the blonde to take her somewhere and Emma complied. The wedding ring had since been slipped off of her finger and lay untouched in her coat pocket that was now on the floor, along with the rest of her clothes as Emma lays on top of her, sucking on her pulse point while roughly thrusting in and out of her./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"Needless to say, Regina was being stupid, she knew that. But god, the things the blonde was doing to her was enough for her to cast aside all thoughts of her husband./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"Emma was being anything but gentle, if the sounds of the headboard slamming against the wall, Emma's grunts, or the echo of their skin slapping together was any indicator. And it's not like Regina minded at all. All she was ever used to was boring, vanilla sex. That fire in her relationship was long gone, but Emma was something else entirely./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"Her hands grip the sheets tightly underneath her as her back arches. Emma's well endowed member mixed with her grunts were turning Regina on tortuously./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""Oh fu-" Regina moans when Emma's cock hits that spot. She breathes heavy, head turning from side to side as she dwells in the pleasure the blonde is giving to her. "God, Emma."/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""You feel so good." Emma manages to say as she continues pounding into the brunette beneath her. She rolls her hips with each thrust, feeling Regina's walls start to tighten around her. She knows the brunette is close and she has been holding back forever now./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"Emma moves her arm between their bodies, fingers trailing down Regina's stomach until they find her clit. She brushes her finger against the bundle of nerves, a high pitch moan emitting from Regina. Emma can feel an orgasm sweeping through the brunette and her movements slow down as she cums hard into the condom./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"Regina's breathing heavily as she comes down from her high and Emma quickly slips out and disposes of the latex barrier before returning. She falls onto the bed, letting out a sigh of content. Regina's chest is still heaving and Emma glances over at her./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""That was, uh... wow." Emma breathes out as they lay on their backs. Emma was still pretty drunk and she had no idea what to do next. It's not like she was used to one night stands or having sex with strangers in the first place, and most of the time, by this point, the other person was dressing and leaving. But Regina stayed in her bed and Emma didn't know what was appropriate after sex activities. Do they cuddle? Is that a thing? She doesn't want to assume that it's a normal thing to do for something that'll probably only happen once./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""You can say that again." Regina replies as she modestly grabs the sheet and covers her body./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""Uhm. Did you need me to like call you a cab or something?" Emma questions and she feels the bed shift. She looks out of her peripheral vision to see Regina staring at her./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""Trying to kick me out?" She chuckles and Emma shakes her head./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""No, not at all. I just, you know, I don't do this sort of thing usually and I uh- you can stay, if you need." Emma stutters out and Regina just scoots closer to her, wrapping her arm around a pale waist./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""Thanks, Emma."/p  
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p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"Regina wakes up three hours later and groans loudly. Her head was pounding and she was completely unaware of her surroundings. She feels the bed shift as the body latched onto her moves. She turns her head over and is met with blonde tresses splayed across the pillow and her heart stops./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""Shit." She mutters when the flashbacks of a few hours ago hit her. She instantly regrets what happened and does her best to leave the bed without Emma noticing./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"She succeeds and searches the dark room for her clothes, throwing aside what she knows isn't hers as she silently dresses herself. She grabs her jacket off of the ground and throws it over her shoulder as she quietly pushes open the bedroom door, taking one last, long look at Emma was who fast asleep before exiting the room./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"Regina's drive home wasn't helping; and she's not sure if it was due to the fact that she would be home soon, or the realization that having to call a taxi to take her back to her car as late as she did felt like a walk of shame to her. It was just past 2 in the morning and she knew Daniel would be home shortly after her, seeing as it's usually the time he comes home when "something comes up at works". And she lets the uneasiness settle in her stomach as she thinks of that./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"She doesn't know why she's stayed so long when she can assume that her husband has also been unfaithful. Though, he's been "working late" for the past year and her one night of sheer, sexual bliss with Emma was a one time thing. A momentary lapse of judgement./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"Regina throws all of those thoughts aside, knowing that regardless of anything Daniel's potentially doing behind her back, she also messed up. And she knows she'll eventually have to tell Daniel, but that was for another day./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"She pulls into the garage, instantly noticing that his car wasn't there. As if she expected anything else./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"She sulks up to the bedroom and strips down, laying down in the bed as she remembers what had happened a few short hours ago. She curls up and grabs a hold of the blanket, clutching it to her chest as a few tears stream down her face./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"Regina spends 30 minutes in silence and regret when she hears the garage door close and footsteps headed towards the room. She can hear Daniel changing before he slides into bed next to her, an arm wrapping around her waist./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""You awake?" He asks./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""Mhmm." Regina sounds, closing her eyes to stop the tears welling up in her eyes./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""Sorry I had to cancel." Daniel says in a completely emotionless voice./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""It's fine." Regina mumbles./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""Okay, then..." Daniel takes a sharp inhale. "Hmm..."/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""What?" Regina asks, annoyed, moving uncomfortably in the bed./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""You smell... different, is all." Daniel mentions./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""Uh, yeah..." Regina draws out, opening her eyes and staring blankly into the dark room. "I tried a new perfume."/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""Oh." Daniel replies, his breath hot on Regina's back./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""Yeah..."/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""I liked the old one better." Daniel mumbles sleepily as he yawns and closes his eyes, falling asleep shortly after./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"Regina stays awake and cries. Because she's not too sure why she did what she did, but she can't get it out of her head. She takes a deep breath, wiping away her tear stained cheeks as she slowly tries to sleep./p  
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p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"strong4 Days Later/strongbr /Emma sits in the parking garage and watches as she walks into the hotel. She's been working since 6am, the time her client's wife usually leaves the house. And she's been tailing the woman ever since./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"Being a private investigator wasn't really something Emma ever thought she'd be doing. After spending some time on the police force, however, she decided she needed a change. But catching "bad guys" was her thing, and she used it to her advantage./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"She lifts the camera up to her eye and snaps a photo of Marian, the wife of her client, Robin. He had suspected her of cheating on him and hired Emma to find out./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"Once she's inside the hotel, Emma quickly follows behind her, but keeps a distance as to not seem suspicious. She stands in the lobby, overhearing the concierge tell her a room number and books it to the staircase. She climbs up the floor, just as the elevator dings and watches as Marian exits and finds a room. She knocks on the door and Emma lifts her camera up, hiding behind a corner./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"A man steps out, kissing her on the cheek and Emma takes this moment as a chance to snap another photo./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""I got you, now." Emma smirks as she exits the building./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"She pulls her phone out and calls Robin, telling him to meet her at the office in a couple of hours./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"As Emma's exiting the hotel, her phone rings again. She checks the caller ID, seeing that it's her ex, Ashley./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""Shit." Emma mutters./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"There's only one reason Ashley would be calling her, their daughter./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"She accepts the call and places the phone between her ear and her shoulder as she gets in the car. "Hello?"/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"em'Please tell me you're off today.'/em Ashley says desperately./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""Uh... no, I'm not." Emma starts the car and starts driving towards the office. "Why, what's wrong?"/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"em'Something came up at the hospital and I have to stay late, and Sean's away for work. I need someone to get Ellie from school.'/em/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"Emma sighs, checking the clock. It was a little after ten in the morning and her meeting with Robin was at noon. "I can get her."/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"em'Thank you so much, Emma.'/em/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""Of course."/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"em'Did you just want to keep her for the night? I know it's my week, but I may be here for 14 hours.'/em/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""Uh yeah. And then you can keep her an extra day before next week." Emma agrees./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"em'Works for me. Once again, thank you so much, I really appreciate it.'/em/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""Yeah, it's not big deal." Emma shrugs it off as she pulls up to the office. "I'll see you tomorrow."/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"em'Okay. Bye, Emma. You're a lifesaver.'/em/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""Right." Emma chuckles. "Bye, Ashley."/p  
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p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"span style="font-weight: bold;"The Other Side Of Town/span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"Regina watches as all of the students pile into the classroom. She usually didn't have classes on Thursday's, but her colleague and best friend, Belle French, was out with the stomach flu and Regina promised to cover one of her days./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"As the students all settle down, Regina takes a few moments to write "Mrs. C" on the white board before turning back to the fourth graders./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""Hi everyone! I'm Mrs. Colter but you can call me Mrs. C. Miss French is our with the flu, so I'll be covering her class today." Regina smiles. "Can anybody tell me what you guys were working on?"/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"The hand of a small student raises up, and Regina looks at her. She was small, and had blonde hair and piercing green eyes. Regina noticed two arm crutches next to the girl's desk, and her heart broke when she realized that this young child was handicapped./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""Yes..." Regina starts out, looking at the seating chart, "Ellie Boyd?"/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""We were gon' share our, uhm, our family projects today." The little girl stumbles over her words. The class snickers, but Regina thinks nothing of it./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""Excellent!" She exclaims. "Do you want to go first?"/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"Ellie nods and slips each arm into a crutch before grabbing her project and making her way up to the front. She asks Regina to hold her drawing up for the class to see, and Regina looks at it, admiring what she saw. It was a drawing of two blonde women holding hands with Ellie as she stood in the middle./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""Uhm, this is my family. This is my mommy, Ashley-" Ellie points to the blonde figure on the left. Her hand then moves to the right, "and this is my other mommy, Emma. They both, uh, made me even!"/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""That's so sweet." Regina says, even though she's wondering how both of her moms had created her, but she just assumed it was through IVF or artificial insemination. Ellie was probably too young to understand that. Regina sets the drawing down and claps, but her smile falls when she realizes the other kids are laughing at the small blonde./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""Yeah, that's why you're a freak!" One boy exclaims./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"Another boy looks at him and snickers. "Yeah, two moms? No wonder you can't walk right!"/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""That's impossible!" Another kid yells out. "You can't have two moms!"/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""I bet they broke up because she was born deformed!" A fourth kid jabs./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"Regina's heart breaks as she looks down at Ellie who is doing her best to hold in her tears./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""That is enough!" Regina calls out in a stern voice. "I will not tolerate mean jokes about someone's disabilities or family life."/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"The kids shut their mouths and the room grows silent quickly./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"Regina kneels down next to Ellie. "I bet both of your moms are wonderful and love you very much." She tries her best to comfort the broken child./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""They- do." Ellie manages to get out between sobs./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""It's okay, sweetheart. Don't let these mean kids get to you, I bet you're wonderful." Regina smiles, patting Ellie on the back before glaring at the kids who were being mean to her. "As for you four, I'd like to see you before recess."/p  
hr style="color: #000000; margin: 5px 0px; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; background: -webkit-gradient(linear, 0% 100%, 100% 100%, from(#ffffff), color-stop(0.1, #cbcbcb), color-stop(0.9, #cbcbcb), to(#ffffff)) #cbcbcb; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;" noshade="noshade" size="1" /  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"span style="font-weight: bold;"12:00; Emma's Office/span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"Emma sits in her office that she had rented out in an office building. While she would prefer to work out of her home, she knew it wasn't an ideal situation for a private investigator, and mainly just a safety precaution./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"She glances at the clock, noticing that Robin was late and had to wrap this meeting up quickly because she still had loads of work to do for other clients, and on top of that, she had to call it an early day due to her daughter./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"She grows impatient as she stares at the images on her desk, the ones of Marian Hood cheating on her husbandspan style="font-weight: bold;". /spanShe picks up her phone to call Robin, when the door flies open and he comes running in./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""I'm so sorry I'm latespan style="font-weight: bold;". /spanThere was an accident and traffic was jammed." He says in a thick British accent. "What have you got?"/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""Your proof." Emma smiles smugly, even though she knew he'd be heartbroken at the truthspan style="font-weight: bold;". /span"You were right."/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""I knew it!" He exclaims."Let me see the photosspan style="font-weight: bold;"./span"/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""Ah-ahspan style="font-weight: bold;"-/spanahspan style="font-weight: bold;"./span" Emma shakes her head. "The payment, firstspan style="font-weight: bold;". /spanI don't play around."/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"Robin nods as he grabs a wad of cash from his jacket pocket."Here it $5,000 worth. I hope you're worth this much."/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""I can assure youspan style="font-weight: bold;",/span I am, sir." Emma reaches over and takes the money. "Now, let me show you what I found."/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"Emma grabs the stacks of photographs and hands them to Robin. He sifts through themspan style="font-weight: bold;",/span his face distorting and growing angrier by the secondspan style="font-weight: bold;"./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""That dirty fucking bastard!" He curses under his breathspan style="font-weight: bold;". /span"He's the one screwing around with my wife!?"/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""Uhh...?" Emma questions, not sure who the other man was./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""My supposed best friend, it's him!" Robin shows Emma the photograph. "I thought we were friends!"/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""I'm sorry?" Emma tries her best to people didn't stick around and talk about their significant other's infidelities, so she's not entirely sure what to say or do./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""I'm gonna make him pay." Robin says through gritted teeth. "How much would you charge for that?"/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""I don't follow...?"/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""Daniel Colter. He has a wife. That dirty low life piece of shit is also cheating on his wifespan style="font-weight: bold;". /spanHow much would you charge me to send these to her?" Robin asks honestlyspan style="font-weight: bold;"./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""I've never had to do that before." Emma replies./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""I'll give you another thousand to send these to her." Robin offers and Emma's eyes nearly bulge out of her skull. Was he kidding? A thousand dollars to send some photos to some poor wife? There was no way she could pass that upspan style="font-weight: bold;"./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""You've got a deal." Emma says, handing him a photo envelope. "I just need you to give me her address."/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"Robin nods, passing Emma and extra thousand dollars. He grabs a pen and writes on the envelope:/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"emMrs. R Colter. 318 Mifflin Lane/em/p  
hr style="color: #000000; margin: 5px 0px; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; background: -webkit-gradient(linear, 0% 100%, 100% 100%, from(#ffffff), color-stop(0.1, #cbcbcb), color-stop(0.9, #cbcbcb), to(#ffffff)) #cbcbcb; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;" noshade="noshade" size="1" /  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"span style="font-weight: bold;"Storybrooke Elementary School; 15:00/span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"The school bell rings to signal the end of the day and all of the young students start flooding out of classrooms. Emma watches as her daughter comes out last, something she's used to since Ellie waits for everyone to leave so she can exit the classroom safely without being knocked over. But today is different. Ellie is last, but there's something else about her: a sulking demeanor./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""Hey sweetie, what's wrong?" Emma asks as she moves through a small crowd of kids to reach her daughter. Emma kneels down on the ground and wraps Ellie up in her arms as she weeps. "Ellie? What happened?"/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""I shared my-my project to-day." Ellie sobs. "And the kids ma-made fun of me for-for being different."/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""Different how?" Emma questions, rubbing her daughter's back in an attempt to soothe her crying./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"Ellie sniffles and looks up at her mom. "Cuz I have two mommies and my legs are-are deformed they said."/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"Emma can feel the rage settle inside, and it's not often that she feels this way, especially towards children. But when her own daughter gets bullied, she instantly snaps into momma bear formation. "You're perfect, Ellie. You know that, right? All of the other kids are just jealous."/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""You think so, mommy?"/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""I know so." Emma smiles, getting up off the ground. "But I'll be back. I'm going to go talk to your teacher, okay? Just hang tight."/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"Ellie nods and Emma leans down and kisses her on the head before turning to the door. She mouths 'be right back' to Ellie as she heads into the classroom./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""Miss French, we need to talk about Ell-" Emma starts but is cut off when she looks at the whiteboard and sees 'Mrs. C' in the corner and a dark haired brunette erasing lessons off of the board. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize Miss French had a sub today."/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;""It's quite alright, dear." Regina says, turning around to face the one person she never thought she'd run into again. "Oh shit."/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"Emma's eyes widen as do Regina's and they stand there staring at each other for what feels like hours. Emma is at a loss for words. She glances one more up to the whiteboard, noticing the name in the corner. And not only noticing that her last name wasn't Mills at all, but there was something that she left out the previous night: she was married./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"Regina's perplexed as well. There would only be one reason why Emma would be here and that's if she had a kid, which she failed to mention to Regina. Not that Regina really could say much in the situation they were facing. What she choose to omit from the truth was far worse./p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"And both sat there in silence until the reality hit them; and they both couldn't hold the questions on the tips of their tongues in anymore; saying at the same time:/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px; font-family: Verdana, Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px;"em"You have a child!?"/embr /em"You're married!?"/em/p 


	2. Chapter II

**Hey guys! I'm sorry it's been so long since I've updated! I just recently returned to work after surgery and I've been a busy bee. But I didn't forget about you! I'm still winging this, but thank you for reading!**

* * *

" _You have a child!?"  
"You're married!?"_

The room grows silent again as the two women look at each other in disbelief. However, Regina suspects that Emma's disbelief is due to a circumstance much bigger than hers, but she's still in shock. Not that she had time to look around Emma's house, but it definitely didn't look like somewhere a kid would live. Aside from that, Regina just assumed that with Emma's condition, she would be sterile. She was dumbfounded by the fact that Emma could actually get someone pregnant.

"I think that you being married is a little more of a big deal than me having a daughter." Emma finally breaks the silence. "So, you're name isn't even Regina Mills... You lied to me and used me."

"My maiden name is Mills..." Regina says softly.

"That doesn't change the fact that you flat out lied to my face." Emma scoffs.

Regina nods knowingly. She had no intention of Emma ever finding out, or seeing Emma ever again for that matter. "Yeah..."

"I hope it was worth it." Emma replies before walking out of the classroom. She couldn't believe that this was happening to her right now. It was one thing for her to catch people cheating on their spouses, but another to be the person that ultimately helped someone's spouse cheat on them. She wasn't all right with that in any sense. It never sat right with her because she knew exactly what it felt like to be that person, and she absolutely hated it.

After all, it's why she has a daughter in the first place. Emma had been the person that Ashley cheated on her previous partner with, and Ashley kept it a secret for years. After Ashley and Emma were on the verge of breaking up after 5 years, Ashley told Emma that one of the original reasons they ever started dating was because Ashley got pregnant when she cheated on her ex with Emma, and that she felt obligated to be with her for the sake of their child. Their breakup was bitter, but Emma tried her best to set all of her anger towards Ashley to the side because of Ellie. Eventually, Emma got over it, but it didn't make her situation with Regina sting any less.

Emma sighs heavily as she walks into the hallway and sees Ellie sitting on a bench, tapping her shoes with her crutches while she waits for her. "Did you talk to her mommy?"

"No, sweetie. She was a substitute. Do you mind if we go talk to the principal?" Emma asks and Ellie shakes her head.

"I don't mind, mommy." Ellie smiles as Emma helps her up from the bench.

They walk towards the principal's office, Emma's hand on her daughter's back. She glances back at the sound of a door closing and sees Regina staring at them from down the hallway. Emma turns around and continues walking, shaking off all of the pent up emotions she has because right now, her daughter is more important.

They make it to Principal Blanchard's office, also the office of Emma's mom. Emma knocks on the door and Mary-Margaret opens it with a large smile on her face.

"Emma! Ellie!" She exclaims and motions for them to enter. "What's going on with my two favorite girls?"

"Hi grandma!" Ellie smiles, but Emma doesn't.

Emma sighs loudly. "Did you know that Ellie was being bullied? I was going to address Miss French, but she has a substitute."

"Yes, Mrs. C, I'm aware." Mary-Margaret says and Emma cringes at the name. "She came and talked to me during recess. She talked to the kids who were bullying her and gave me their names. I have contacted their parents. We are all having a meeting tonight at 7pm. Would you like to join?"

"Actually, I would. This behavior is completely uncalled for and wrong. If it weren't for Ashley living in this district, I'd have half a mind to pull her out." Emma says sternly. "Don't get me wrong, mom. I love this school and love what you have done to make it more inclusive and diverse, but I won't tolerate this."

"I understand, Emma. We are going to do our best to end this problem once and for all." Mary-Margaret replies. "I will not let anyone bring my sweet granddaughter down. Her disability is not a joke. This will be taken care of."

* * *

 _ **6**_ _**Years Ago  
**_ Ashley and Emma sit in the doctor's office as they wait for the result of Ellie's MRI to come back. They had sought out one of the best neurologists after noticing that their daughter was having issues with walking at the age of 3.

Ellie was sitting on the examination table as her moms sat in the chairs next to her, Emma holding onto her hand.

"What do you think it could be?" Emma asks Ashley who has a worried look on her face.

"I don't know. I just hope our baby will be okay." Ashley replies, leaning her head on Emma's shoulder. Emma lets out a huge sigh as the doctor knocks on the door and walks in.

"Sorry for the hold up." Dr. Whale says as he grabs the rolling chair and scoots over to Ellie. "We got the results back from her MRI... Ellie has Level 3 Ataxic Cerebral Palsy."

Emma hears Ashley gasp and both of their eyes fill with tears. Emma didn't know too much about cerebral palsy, but she knew it meant, in some cases, that Ellie would need assistance for the rest of her life.

"How could this happen?" Ashley sobs, grabbing onto Emma's hand.

"Well, it's usually caused by an underdeveloped brain or lack of oxygen during birth. Unfortunately two thirds of every thousand children get this disease. But fret not, I can assure you that your daughter is otherwise perfectly healthy."

"What does this mean for Ellie?" Emma asks. "Like what can we do? What can't she do?"

"Level 3 Ataxic Cerebral Palsy will usually cause balance and coordination issues, on top of having problems grasping things like a pen or pencil. While she's still a toddler, she will need to be in a wheelchair until we can get her into physical therapy." Dr. Whale explains. "After that, we can get her some arm crutches and teach her how to walk with those. She will most likely have to use them her whole life, but it seems like her developmental and learning skills should be still mostly functional."

"We'll do whatever it takes to help her deal with this the best we can. Right, babe?" Ashley asks, looking at Emma.

Emma smiles and nods. "I promise you, our daughter will be okay."

* * *

 **Present Day; 17:45**

Regina finally makes it home after what she could call an extremely long day, and she knew it wasn't over, yet. She still had to go back to the school for the meeting she was having with the children's parents. But that wasn't what was making Regina's day feel long, it was seeing Emma at the school and being caught up in her lie.

Regina knew she was in the wrong. She knew that she should have never gone to the bar, never asked Emma to take her home when she knew that she was married. She should have never lied and knowing the little she knew of Emma, she knew that Emma would be at this meeting that she was now dreading. She knew that she had lied about a very big part of her life, but Emma hid a part of hers from her as well. Though, Regina knows that isn't justification at all for her lies, she was upset that Emma hadn't shared this detail with her.

On top of that, Regina was wondering why, if Emma had a child, Ellie had a different surname than her mom. Regina knows that this could've just been a parental decision between Emma and whoever Ashley was, but it made Regina instantly suspicious of Emma and her intentions as well. According to the photo that Ellie had shared during class, it looked to Regina as though Ashley and Emma were still together. Was there something more that Emma was hiding?

All of those thoughts are set aside when she hears the door leading from the garage to the house open and close, signaling that Daniel was home. She sighs loudly, trying her best to make it seem like she wasn't completely lost and guilty right now.

"Hey." Daniel smiles as he enters the kitchen where Regina was going through the mail. "How was work?"

"Long." Regina shrugs, tossing a bill into a specific pile. "And about to be longer. I have to go back to the school for a meeting."

"A meeting? Why?" Daniel questions, raising an eyebrow.

"One of Belle's students was being bullied today for being handicapped and since I was subbing for her, I need to attend the meeting." Regina answers honestly. "Why are you looking at me like I've done something? You have no right. You cancel dates all of the time for _meetings_."

"You just never have meetings is all." Daniel defends. "It's uncommon. No need to bring me into this."

"Whatever, Daniel." Regina scoffs, glancing at the clock and realizing that she should probably head back to the school for her meeting. "I've gotta go back."

"What time will you be home?" Daniel asks, a cold expression on his face.

Regina rolls her eyes. "I don't know. Whenever this is over. Why do you all of the sudden feel like you need to keep tabs on me?"

"That's not at all what I'm doing. I'm just wondering when I can expect _my wife_ home." Daniel emphasizes. "Didn't realize that was so hard to ask."

"That's rich coming from you, Daniel, and you know it." Regina huffs out angrily, grabbing her keys and heading from the door.

"Hey!" Daniel rushes after Regina and grabs her arm. "Cut this shit out, Regina. You're my wife and I deserve to know when you'll be home."

Regina tries to yank her arm away, but his grip grows tighter. "Let go of me, Daniel. I may be your wife but it doesn't mean you own me."

His face falls, defeated. He lets go of Regina, looking at his in disbelief. "Whatever, just go."

* * *

 **At The School**  
Emma, Ellie, and Ashley walk into Storybrooke Elementary School shortly before the meeting.  
"Thanks for filling me in on everything, Emma." Ashley says as the sit down at the table in the conference room, Ellie in between the two of them. "I really appreciate it."

"She's our daughter. Regardless of how we turned out, we owe it to her to try and parent the best we can together." Emma says. "Plus, you deserve to know that she's been bullied. I remember when I was and I didn't tell anyone and no one told my parents. For the longest time, it ate me up inside and Ellie doesn't deserve that."

Mary-Margaret enters the room and smiles at the three of them, extremely happy that for once they were getting along.

They start making brief conversation as the other parents pour in. The only person who was missing was Regina. Not that Emma was complaining, she was honestly dreading having to be in the same room as her one night stand from the night before. Especially after she found out that Regina had lied to her. It had been bugging her since she found out, and she can't stop that itching feeling that Regina would try to talk to her tonight. She wasn't sure she was ready for that.

Emma watches as the other parents grow impatient at the substitute teacher's tardiness, checking their watches and sighing loudly.

"Can we hurry this up? We've got things to do." One parents groans loudly, their attention soon facing the door that flies open.

"Sorry I'm late." A disheveled Regina huffs out as she breathes heavily. "I didn't mean to keep you all waiting."

Regina looks around the room for a place to sit, glancing at Emma as she takes a seat across from the blonde. She clears her throat and looks away.

"Where were we?"

"I've called all of your here today because word has gotten out that your children," Mary-Margaret points to the group of four parents, "Are bullying this student due to her disability among other things. I'm going to say this right now: this behavior will not be tolerated. An initial statement from Mrs. C which has been documented will be submitted to the Board of Education, as well as this recorded session, which will become a transcript. I want to inform you, however, that due to anti-bullying legislation, this behavior will no longer be tolerated and can or will result in higher disciplinary action."

"That's unfair!" One parent yells. "Just because-"

"No." Emma interrupts. "What's not fair is that your children are bullying my daughter for being born handicapped, for something that she cannot control. And for making fun of her home life and the fact that she has two moms. That's not fair."

"Well," Another parent speaks up, "If you didn't live such a sinful life, maybe this would've been avoided."

"That's not an excuse." Ashley groans. "Your opinion about us doesn't mean it's okay for your children to be bullies."

"This isn't a religious based school, please keep your religion out of this. Here is the point," Emma gestures to her hand, moving it over her head. "And that's it going over your head. It is not up to you or your children to be judge, jury, and executioner. It's your job to teach your children not to judge a book by its cover. Our daughter grew up learning that everyone was special and that regardless of their race, disability, gender, or sexual orientation, they are worth getting to know. You're supposed to teach your kids about inclusion and acceptance, not hatred because they're different. It's your job as parents to make sure your kids grow up right."

"Do we really need to listen to these women any longer?" A man rolls his eyes. "Because frankly, it's bullshit. I don't need lesbians telling me how to raise my children."

Emma grows angry at this comment and uses her hands to cover her daughters ears. "No, what's bullshit is that you cannot accept that people are fucking different, man. It's 2018, not fucking 1950. The world has changed, you gotta change with it."

"Are you really going to let her bully us?" The man asks looking at Mary-Margaret and Regina, who just sit there and let Emma continue speaking.

"Oh my fucking god, man. Teaching you about tolerance is not bullying. Your son calling my daughter deformed is. Your children telling my daughter that it's because she has two moms as to why she can't walk is bullying." Emma releases her hands from Ellie's ears and tries her hardest not to reach across the table because while Emma has resorted to violence, sometimes, she has taught her daughter otherwise.

"Seriously, can you just shut up? Just because my kid cracked a joke at yours doesn't mean you can sit here and bully me."

"Are you really that fucking dense? Your kid didn't crack a joke, he straight up called my daughter deformed. He bullied her. You want to know something? Here's a history lesson for you. Bullying can lead a victim to suicide. My daughter spends 8 hours a day here, and if your children are bullying her for a constant 8 hours every day, it can wear down her self worth faster than you can say 'oops'. Just think about that. If your child bullies anyone to suicide, _that blood is on your hands_."

Emma angrily gets up from the table and walks out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

"Shit." Ashley mutters under her breath.

"I just want to say something," one of the mother's finally speaks up, "I talked to my son and he said that one of the only reasons he said something was because Miss French was not present."

"That's no excuse, though." Regina interjects. "Just because I was a substitute doesn't mean it's an excuse for your kids to belittle others. Just because it hasn't happened until now doesn't mean that they weren't eventually going to do it. This school has been all about tolerance and acceptance since I've worked here. You, as parents, need to make sure that you're teaching your children to respect others. Do not punish one girl for being different or having a different family lifestyle than your own. You don't know what they've gone through, just as I don't know what you've gone through. It's unfair to blame the parents and their daughter when it was your children's behavior that landed us here in the first place. This has nothing to do with Ellie and her parents, this has to do with you. And Ellie's mom getting upset with your nonchalant and ignorant attitude towards bullying, does not equate to her bullying you."

"That is an excellent point. While we understand that Miss French strictly enforces our anti-bullying rules, it doesn't mean that your children saw an open opportunity with Mrs. Colter." Mary-Margaret adds. "We need to address all of these types of situations and they'll be addressed in such a manner that if this happens again, disciplinary action will be taken. Is that understood?"

"Yeah."  
"Sure."  
"I guess."  
"Yes, ma'am."

Everyone begrudgingly agrees and Mary-Margaret ends the conference.

Regina is quick to get out of the room and as she exits, she looks to her left to see Emma sitting on the bench with her head in her hands.

"You okay?" Regina asks.

Emma just shrugs. "I don't really want to talk to _you_ about how I'm feeling."

"I'm sorry..." Regina sighs, not knowing why she even tried to start up a conversation with Emma. It was almost clear to her that she hid things too. "I'll just let you get back to your girlfriend."

"She's _not_ my girlfriend. Not that I owe you anything." Emma says harshly. "She's my ex and I don't know why you're trying to validate that I did something worse than you did. You lied to me, and you used me. I don't know what else you want from me, but I'm not that person."

"I wasn't looking to hurt you, Emma... That wasn't my intention." Regina replies softly.

"Just go back to your husband or wife or whatever. It's obvious to me that I was just a mistake as I always am, so please just leave me alone."

Regina just nods and turns around, walking away. Emma looks out of the corner of her eye, watching as the teacher heads down the hallway. She sighs loudly, closing her eyes and listening to everyone as they filter out of the conference room. She looks up and notices Ellie and Ashley standing next to her.

"Thank you so much again, Emma, for letting me know about this incident." Ashley says with her head down. "I know you've experienced bullying in the past and it was really cool of you to stand up to those asshole parents."

Emma just shrugs, smiling towards Ellie. "Anything for my baby girl."

"And I understand you got mad and left, which was totally justified. But just know, that the teacher stood up for you." Ashley replies. "Uh, Mrs. Colter, I think. She put those parents in their place."

Emma raises an eyebrow at the name, thinking about that morning when she sent a package to someone with the last name of Colter. She brushes it off, though, not wanting to raise suspicion in front of Ashley or their daughter. "That's wonderful. I'm glad it got sorted out. Hopefully this will be the last time anyone messes with you, Ellie."

"I hope so, too, mom." Ellie smiles. "Can I stay with you tonight?"

Emma looks over to Ashley who just smiles widely and nods. "Of course you can, sweetheart. Let's get going."

* * *

 **Next chapter will have a lot more Regina/Emma moments, but I wanted to write more about Ellie since she is going to be in this story a lot. Thanks for tuning in! I'll try to get the next one out in a more timely fashion.**


	3. Chapter III

**A/N: Once again, my not so punctual butt took forever to update. So I apologize for that. I'm still extremely busy, and forgot to sync my phone to the document so that I could write without my laptop. Whoops. But here it is, as promised. I'm kind of iffy on this chapter, but I re-wrote it like 4 times and this was the best for developing the story. So bear with me, it might be a little meh.**

 **Also, I used some song lyrics so I'll state now that I do not own them:  
** _Discovering the Waterfront - Silverstein_

* * *

It was the start of a new day, and Emma was hoping that it would be better than the last. She had been up all night, tossing and turning, her mind swarming with thoughts. Ever since the previous night when Ashley mentioned that Regina's last name was Colter, she's been wracking her brain on if this was the same R. Colter that she had sent the envelope of photos to for Robin. It could just be a crazy coincidence, but it was odd enough that Emma spent all night on the computer investigating. It bothered her knowing she may know something the brunette doesn't.

But to no avail, she found a whole lot of useless information. There were a handful of people with the name R. Colter and even weirder was the fact that three of the women were married to men named Daniel. She couldn't get very far on her Facebook investigation because all profiles were heavily privatized. So, Emma was completely unsure if Regina was the actual recipient of the photos, and that bugged her.

She's not exactly sure why she cared so much. What Regina did to her still hurt her to the core, and she knows she may be acting a tiny bit irrational, but with the truth of her past with Ashley, she couldn't help it. She can still remember that day, clearly, even if it was five years ago. They had broken up when Ellie was 4 years old.

* * *

 _ **5 Years Ago  
**_ Emma was sitting in the living room, watching TV with Ellie when Ashley emerges from the bedroom. She had gone to their room hours ago to rest, but when she walks out, Emma notices that Ashley has puffy, red eyes, as if she had been crying.

"Hey." Emma draws out. "Is everything okay?"

Ashley shakes her head and looks down. "No, can we talk for a minute? Alone?"

Emma looks down at Ellie who is happily watching The Lion King and she nods. "Sure."

Her stomach felt uneasy as they walk down the hallway to the bedroom. "What's going on?"

"I'm sorry." Ashley starts crying. Her body heaves uncontrollably as the sobs start to take over.

Emma moves towards Ashley, wrapping her arms around the blonde. "What are you sorry for?"

"I-I... this isn't working, anymore."

Emma takes a step back, cautious, terrified of what Ashley's about to say next.

"What's not working?"

"Us, Emma!" Ashley exclaims through tears. "I tried, I really did."

"I'm not sure I follow you..." Emma draws out, and she's not. She has no idea what's come over Ashley, or what she means by saying she tried.

"I need to tell you something, and I feel awful. I really do." Ashley starts to calm down. "But... I tried for so long to make this work, to believe you were the one for me but you're not. I-"

"You...?"

"Cheated..." Ashley starts.

"On me...?" Emma questions, her heart jumbled and her head reeling.

"No." Ashley shakes her head. "I cheated on someone else... with you. And then I got pregnant and so I stayed with you. And I've tried, Emma. For the last five years I've tried to make a life with you, and be happy and in love, but I'm not."

"So you stayed with me because you thought you had to... and that these last five years have been a lie?" Emma asks, the hurt and sadness suddenly turning into something much worse: anger.

"Emma, I'm sorry. I tried so damn hard. I didn't mean for any of this to happen."

* * *

 _ **Present Day  
**_ So yeah, Emma really remembered that day. She remembers it so much and that's the reason why she's having a hard time with what had happened recently. That anger that she felt when Ashley told her the truth reared its ugly head as soon as she found out that Regina was married and that she essentially got used again.

Emma sighs loudly as she gets out of bed, walking over to her desk. She flops down in the chair, grabbing the acoustic guitar that's sitting by the window. She needed some music therapy, and she needed it fast.

She starts playing the melody to the song she had written all those years ago when she found out the truth. She figures if it helped her then, it'll help her now.

' _While I'm trembling, thrown overboard,  
_ _And I'm ready to relive the past.  
_ _Counting down, make that sound.  
_ _Break the silence._

 _Pretend it's not forever, I'll pull myself together.  
_ _I'll say that I'll forget her, I'll breathe.  
_ _And I'll say she never hurt me and look at it as learning. And laugh about the good and the bad.  
_ _Because I won't live forever, we don't belong together.  
_ _I know I'll feel better, one day, when I can make it through.'_

Emma sets her guitar down and leans back in her chair, tapping her fingers on the desk. She presses her lips together and closes her eyes, exhaling loudly.

"What a mess." She mumbles to herself as she decides to get up and go wake up Ellie.

She walks barefoot across her room, heading for the door when a sharp pain radiates from her foot.

"Ow! What the fuck?" Emma gasps in pain as she moves her foot back and looks down at the floor. She notices a small item, glistening in the sunlight shining through her window. She kneels down and her heart drops as she picks the culprit up off of the ground. _Regina's ring_.

She knew it had to belong to the brunette. There was no one else in her bedroom in recent months who was married. Emma's grip around the ring grows tighter as the anger once again flows through her. This made it more real and Emma grows upset at realization that she'll need to figure out a way to get this back to Regina. She drops the ring into her pocket, looking at the imprint it left in her palm, like it was mocking her.

"Fuck me." Emma groans as the brushes her hand against her pants, trying to remove the marks. She shakes her head and tries to clear her mind of all of the negative feelings, knowing that today, she got to spend time with her daughter. "This is all that matters right now, Emma. Just keep your mind focused on Ellie and work."

* * *

 _ **Other Side of Town**_  
"Thank you so much for letting me come over last night, Belle. I really appreciate it." Regina smiles as she grabs her jacket from the coat hanger.

After all that happened with Daniel and not wanting to deal with it because the meeting wore her out, Regina called her best friend and asked to stay the night.

"You're welcome, Gina." Belle mirrors her smile. "I still don't know why you stay with that asshole. He shouldn't be laying hands on you."

"I know… I'm… I'm figuring it out, Belle. I promise." Regina sighs, raising her left hand to her face to rub her forehead.

Belle cocks her head to the side and notices that the wedding band from Regina's finger was missing and she raises an eyebrow. "Is that why your ring's off? Are you actually leaving him?"

Regina's eyes grow wide and she looks at her hand in shock. She hadn't even realized that her ring was missing. She remembers taking it off at the bar when she met Emma and she totally forgot to put it back on when she left the blonde's house. "I- uh… No, that's not it. The other night I kind of went to this hole-in-the-wall bar and I just didn't want to get mugged over it, so I took it off."

"Huh." Belle shrugs her shoulders. "Well, I guess that makes sense. Just don't let Daniel see that or he'll go ballistic on you."

"Yeah." Regina sighs loudly. "I was trying to forget that his temper has gotten a little out of hand…"

"A little? Regina, he literally thinks he OWNS you. He got mad at you for having a meeting." Belle emphasizes. "I know you've been together since college, but like… I just think you need to leave him."

Regina nods. She knows Belle is right, she's been feeling it for awhile now. But she also still feels guilty about cheating on Daniel, even if he has been an asshole. Because that wasn't who she was as a person and her one momentary lapse of judgement is weighing heavily on her mind. She knows she's going to have to tell him, but she knows that it will probably end up with belongings in their house being broken and a yelling match.

"We'll see." Regina tries her best to smile, hugging Belle one last time before she leaves. She's dreading going home, but she knows she has to or else… "I'll see you on Monday, okay? I'll be fine, I promise."

* * *

 ** _Colter Residence; 12:00_  
** Regina has been sitting in the garage for the last thirty minutes, staring out the windshield into nothingness. She arrived home and noticed that Daniel wasn't there. Like she expected anything else. He _supposedly_ broke away from his 9 to 5 job and works whenever he pleases. Regina knew what it meant, she knew it in the depths of her heart that there was a reason he was never home, but she didn't want to admit it.

She sighs loudly, getting out of the car and walking out of the garage towards the mailbox. She blankly stares at the neighborhood as she opens the mailbox and grabs what appears to be a package out of it.

"Weird." She said as she turns the package around and noticed it was addressed to her. "Uh… weirder."

She shakes her head, thinking about what might be in the package. She knows she hasn't ordered anything, and even if she did, she wouldn't address it to herself under **R. Colter**. Her suspicion grows as she enters the house.

She throws the envelope down on the kitchen table and stares at it, trying to figure out what it could possibly be. The package was too small to be a bomb, so she's ruling out the fact that someone may want to kill her. Not that anyone would want to kill her, but she watches a lot of shows about murder, so of course her mind goes there. She pushes all thoughts of what the package could be to the side and works on opening the other pieces of mail she received.

She hears the garage door close and she groans loudly, knowing that Daniel was going to probably pick a fight about why she didn't come home last night. She waits as he enters the kitchen, bracing herself for the worst.

"Hey." He says in a monotone voice. "Welcome home."

"Uh… thanks?" Regina is instantly shocked that he hasn't started yelling yet, but she can still tell he's not being sincere. "Welcome home to you, too."

"Uh, yeah. So, where were you last night?" Daniel presses.

"Why do you want to know?" Regina quips back, growing defensive.

"Because for the hundredth time, Regina, you're my wife. I deserve to know these things." He argues.

"I was at Belle's, Daniel. God, not everything about my life revolves around you." Regina huffs out causing Daniel to scoff. "What? Am I not allowed to have friends anymore?"

Daniel rolls his eyes at his wife when he looks down at a large envelope on the kitchen table addressed to Regina, wondering what it could possibly be. He gets up from the table, trying to hide the fact that he was bothered by Regina's somewhat suspicious behavior.

"Whatever."

Regina just brushes off her husband's attitude and grabs the package. She opens it carefully, pulling out a bunch of what looked like photographs with a note attached to the front of them.

 _ **Figured you'd like to know what all of those 'issues' at work were really about.**_

"What the hell." Regina says out loud, causing Daniel to turn away from the sink and look at Regina who is currently removing the note from the pile.

He can't see what she's looking at, but by the expression on her face, he can tell it's not good. In front of Regina is a photo of Daniel and Marian, his best friend's wife, at a hotel. Her husband was kissing this other woman's cheek, time stamped at 8:00am the previous morning. She cycles through the photos and notices that there were multitudes of photos of the two of them together.

"What the actual fuck!?" Regina exclaims loudly. She gets up from the table and flips over a picture of Daniel and Marian kissing. "Mind explaining these to me?"

She doesn't even give him a chance to respond as she throws the image at her husband. She grabs the envelope off of the table with the rest of the photos and all but runs for the garage. She grabs her keys off of the hook and gets into her car, locking the door when she notices Daniel followed her.

"OPEN UP THE DOOR, REGINA!" He screams, furiously trying to open her car door. "OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR RIGHT NOW."

"Fuck you!" She screams through tears and her closed car window. She turns the key in the ignition and throws the car in reverse, hitting the gas and speeding out of the driveway. She speeds down the street, sobbing uncontrollably as she tries to wrap her mind around what she had just seen.

She stops at a park a few miles away, knowing damn well that Daniel was too much of a coward to follow her out into public and cause a scene. She knew he wouldn't risk her big shot reputation over anything, especially something like this where it was apparent he didn't give a flying fuck about his wife or their union.

Her fist slams into the steering wheel as she cries and curses. She had her suspicions, but seeing those suspicions be true with her own two eyes, that was doing something to her. And while she knew she had also fucked up, it looked like this was going on for a long time.

She glances down at the envelope and types the sender's address into her phone's GPS. She needed answers, and she needed them now.

* * *

 ** _Emma's Office; 12:45_  
** "Hey Rubes, I'll be back, okay? I have to take Ellie home." Emma tells Ruby, her best friend and co-investigator. She and Ellie had stopped by the office to have lunch with her before Ellie had to go home and Emma inevitably had to go back to work.

"Okay, Emma, sounds good!" Ruby smiles as she runs to hug the blonde and Ellie. "Bye, Ellie!"

"Bye Aunt Ruby!" Ellie exclaims loudly. "I'll see you next week?"

"Of course, munchkin." Ruby beams. "I'll just answer any calls and if they demand to talk to you, I'll let them know they can either come and wait, or to call back later. Sound good?"

"Perfect, thank you so much!" Emma replies as she hurriedly rushes Ellie out of the office.

Ruby nods and gets back to work, addressing portfolios of photos to certain clients, as she did everyday when Emma didn't need her on the field with her. Ruby didn't mind doing office work, she actually quite enjoyed it. And it was a nice break from the diner where she worked with her grandma. That, and Emma paid her well, plus she got to spend time with her best friend. After Emma left the police force, Ruby noticed that she was busier than she was when she was on duty. So, working for and helping out Emma was definitely a win-win for them. Emma couldn't keep up with all of her clients, and Ruby got paid to hang out with her best friend.

She's been working away at paperwork for ten minutes when the door flies open and a disheveled looking brunette all but rushes into the office.

"Who the fuck ordered you to follow my husband around and take photos of him!?" The brunette furiously screams at Ruby.

Ruby raises her hands defensively. "I don't usually take the pictures ma'am, I just kind of help out where I can. I mostly do paperwork."

"Where is the person who was following them around?" She demands to know.

"She's out right now. You can go wait in her office… uh…?"

"Regina, my name is Regina. And I want answers." Regina replies, trying to curb her anger. "So when will whoever she is be back?"

"I don't know!" Ruby exclaims, fear lacing her voice as she stares at the anger hiding behind the brown eyes in front of her. "Just go wait in the office. It's over there."

Ruby points Regina to Emma's office and Regina huffs loudly, storming into the office. She angrily plops down in the chair, looking around the blandly decorated office. There were photos up everywhere, but they were photos of random people's lives. There was nothing to indicate who this person was, except for one tiny little trinket sitting on the desk, that was going unseen by the brunette.

Regina stands up and starts looking around the office, careful not to overstep any boundaries by looking through their files. She looks at the photos of people living their lives, not knowing they're being watched, and that's when it hit her. Whoever this person was, they were probably a private investigator or a murderer who stalks their victims. Both ideas worked in her mind.

Regina sighs as she heads back toward the desk, staring at the contents on it when something catches her attention out of the corner of her eye. It was a ring sitting next to a stack of papers, but that wasn't all. As Regina scrutinizes the ring, she notices that it looks way too familiar, like the ring that was currently missing from her finger. She can see the tiny inscription on the inside of the band, and that's when it hits her.

"No fucking wa-" Regina starts but she's interrupted by the sound of someone entering the office.

"Sorry for the hold…" They say, making eye contact with Regina. "…up. Shit, are you kidding me?"

Regina looks at Emma and Emma looks at Regina, both silent, both staring immensely at each other.

"What are you doing here?" Emma asks, moving quickly around Regina to sit behind her desk. "How did you know where I worked?"

"I-I didn't." Regina stutters, placing the envelope on the table. "I'm here because of these."

"Shit." Emma curses. "So, it was you."

"What does that mean? Did you know about this?" Regina questions.

"I didn't know that he was your husband. Obviously, my client didn't give me your first name. Do you know how many R. Colters there are in this stupid fucking city?" Emma retorts.

Regina sighs loudly. "Who hired you to watch Daniel?"

"No one. Someone hired me to watch her." Emma points to Marian. "And why are you so concerned? You cheated on him, too."

"Emma, now is not the fucking time to make me feel like shit about what I did." Regina growls. "I obviously fucking deserved this."

Emma shakes her head. "No, I'm sorry… I shouldn't have blown up on you. I'm just hur-… I'm sorry, okay?"

Regina nods. "Okay…"

"I don't want to get into this with you." Emma says softly. "So, you can uh, take your ring and go."

"What if I don't want to go?" Regina asks, standing up and moving closer to the blonde. "What if I don't want to go back to the reality of my shitty life?"

Emma looks up at Regina and the brunette takes this opportunity to quickly lean forward and kiss the blonde. Emma inhales sharply, pushing herself away from Regina and looking at her.

"I can't." Emma says sternly. "I'm sorry, I can't be that person."

"I know, you told me yesterday." Regina backs away.

"Then why did you kiss me?" Emma raises an eyebrow, confused.

Regina shrugs. "I don't know."

And Regina knows she's lying, but she can see the seriousness in Emma's eyes and that intimidates her. But if she were being completely honest with herself, she can't seem to get the blonde out of her head. Even if the guilt of what she had done with Emma looms over her, she can't seem to let it go. The way that Emma made her feel was more than she ever felt in her entire relationship with Daniel; and that scared but thrilled her at the same time. But she can see the hurt in Emma's eyes, she can see the betrayal and the thoughts swimming through her head, so she plays dumb.

"I'll just go." Regina says softly, grabbing her ring from the desk and cupping it in her hand. "I guess this is goodbye?"

Emma just nods. She doesn't want to let Regina know that she cares. She built up her walls and she needs to keep them up. She cannot afford to get hurt again, and the only thing she knows aside from the fact that Regina makes her fucking heart skip beats is that the brunette also hurt her. And that is something that she cannot deal with right now. So, she sets her feelings about Regina to the side and swallows her pride.

"Yeah, I guess."

Regina gets ready to turn around and leave, but something stops her. She can't exactly pin point what it was, but she lingers around for a few seconds.

Emma stares at her with those piercing green eyes that are burning holes into hers. Regina follows suit and stares at Emma, gripping the ring in her hand tightly, feeling the diamond imprint on her palm.

They stay like this for a few minutes, the tension between them. And it's killing both of them, but neither of them say anything.

Regina finally turns around and lets out a huge sigh. She grabs the door handle and presses it down, opening the door.

"If only I had met you after I saw those."

* * *

 **Until next time. I'll try to get the next one out sooner. Once again, I'm sorry this chapter was kind of bleh. I'm still trying to rack my brain on how I want this story to go in the long run. I was planning on it only being a few chapters, but I think I may expand it into a fuller story.**


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